SACRAMENTO – The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released a review of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) monitoring of Parolee Lovelle Mixon, who caused the deaths of four Oakland Police Officers on March 21, 2009. The OIG concludes that the Parole Division and Office of Correctional Safety (OCS) followed appropriate procedures in supervising and attempting to apprehend Mixon prior to his involvement in the officers’ killings. Following is a statement from CDCR Undersecretary of Operations Scott Kernan on the OIG review:

“The Inspector General’s conclusions confirm the results of our immediate internal review of the handling of Lovelle Mixon’s parolee supervision records. Our parole agents followed all appropriate supervision, drug testing, and even job assistance protocols when dealing with Mixon, who was classified as a high-control parolee. When Mixon absconded from parole supervision, he was promptly listed as a Parolee-at-Large and search procedures were activated. Local law enforcement agencies were notified and engaged in the attempts to arrest him, and our Fuguitive Apprehension Team laid out a plan to search suspected locations – even notifying the U.S. Marshals on a lead that he may have fled the state.

“We agree with the Inspector General that CDCR Parole Agents, Office of Correctional Safety, Fugitive Apprehension Team Members, and other related staff followed appropriate procedures to aggressively protect public safety in this instance. Our peace officers and our brothers and sisters in local law enforcement should be commended for their professionalism in light of this tragedy, and we share in the grief of the Oakland PD and their families.”

The OIG’s review concludes that: “Based on our preliminary inquiry, it appears that CDCR Parole and OCS staff followed department policies and procedures in their supervision of Mixon after his release from custody and in their attempts to locate and apprehend him.”